Hope for the Bleak
by messenger of darkness
Summary: Fear and hatred cause many things. For some, cowardice. For others, a powerful wish to kill. For most, prejudice and indifference. Many war were caused by fear, hatred, and misunderstanding. Is this war one of these? Sequel to The Pain of a Traitor.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The man stood over the corpses, his hands glistening with blood. He turned, and walked away. On the heads of the dead men, a leaf engraved on a metal bar could be seen in the moonlight.

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Konohagakure Village

"We have a report on the Mesike man, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade sighed. She had had a rough night at the pub, trying to drink away the stress of running a village.

"Yes?"

"He has awoken, but he will not speak. We have kept him on intravenous fluids, since he won't eat anything. Also, he cannot see out of the left eye, the one with the scar."

Tsunade motioned for him to continue.

"We have tried to get him to talk, but he will not. He tries to get us to do something for him, but no one can figure out what."

Tsunade nodded. "Alright. Leave."

The medic bowed, then left.

Tsunade called a man in.

"Send Naruto to the Mesike's room."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The man left.

"What are you up to..?"

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17 minutes later, Konoha Hospital

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Naruto grumbled. "A ninja was sent to our 'hotel room'- more of a dung heap- and said you had requested o see me."

"No."

"Well, then, I'll leave."

"I merely said I did not tell for them to send a person to get you. Did I ever say that I did not want you?"

"No…"

"Well then, sit. We have much to discuss."

Naruto sat on a chair facing the bed Jonaza was on.

"First off, look at your right side of the room. Memorize a few of the details of a few of the things over there. Now, quiz me on them."

Naruto glanced at a red lamp, with a purple shade. "What color is the shade of the red lamp?"

Jonaza concentrated. His left eye moved around.

"Blue."

Naruto frowned. "No, purple. Okay, umm… the shape of the two vases." (AN: They were odd vases, shaped like cubes."

"Cylindrical."

Naruto stared at him. "What is wrong with you?" He noticed then the opaque color of Jonaza's usually lively blue eye. "Oh my god…"

Jonaza sighed. "Yes. That eye has gone completely and totally blind. I cannot see anything to the far left of me." He traced his finger along the scar that had blinded him. In most stories, eye scars are made to make a character more dashing or mysterious, while not seriously impairing the person who has one. Kakashi is accepted, since he got a new eye. Not for Jonaza. On him, the scar was ugly and made him more revealed, if anything. It also DID seriously impair him. (AN: I shall explain my motives for this at the bottom.)

Naruto just slumped in his chair. Jonaza, the seemingly invincible one, blinded… well, half blinded.

"Enough of that. There are more serious matters to discuss."

A doctor, passing by the door, happened to hear these words, and, since Tsunade sad to report anything interesting about the man, stopped to listen. He only heard a few words, but what they were was enough to make him pale. Several mentions of something like winged demons… 121 tails… and a certain 'S'-word he couldn't quite remember. Seliphin? Sephiketh? Whatever they were, they all boded ill for the world. He hurried to tell the Hokage.

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Kira was bored. She was wandering around, and suddenly, she saw a familiar head of spiky black hair. She grinned… and a scream was heard all over the surrounding area.

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The reason Jonaza was half-blinded is because I felt him to be quite too powerful. Now, with only half his vision, he cannot operate on the same level he was before. I appreciate all of your patience; I have been otherwise preoccupied from my story. Those of you whom I requested to read my story because I liked yours, if you remain, of which there are probably very few, now you know what's its like to wait for an update.


	2. Chapter One: Aquatainces Renewed

Chapter One: Aquantances Renewed

Sasuke was squirming on the ground. Kira was looking down at him impassively.

"Did it hurt?"

Sasuke glared at her. "No."

"Then why are you writhing?"

Sasuke got up. He lunged for her, probably with the intent to harm. He was too slow. She flipped over him to face away from him.

"You're mean to me."

Sasuke looked at her, in a way suggesting amazement.

"And you're crazy."

She giggled and ran off.

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Konoha Training grounds

Naruto stood next to Jonaza, both of them facing a wooden pole. Jonaza held two kunai in his hands.

"Throw."

Jonaza threw the two kunai. One went to the far right, the other struck the pole but at such an angle it clanged off.

Naruto sighed. Three hours of practicing, and yet no progress. Jonaza growled in anger, and raised his arms. Hundreds of kunai appeared before him, and flew at the pole. Around half of them struck it. Jonaza smiled, though he showed signs of fatigue.

"A bit of progress."

Naruto shook his head. "I rue the day that you had to go fight them."

Jonaza looked at him. He may have been a detailed statue.

"As do I. But, I guess there was a reason to it."

Naruto rolled his eyes. This was one part of Jonaza that he hated; his belief in any god but the Shinigami. Jonaza caught sight of this (Naruto was on his right side) and laughed.

"Come on, forgive me for strangeness."

Naruto couldn't help grinning. "Alright, you've proved you're horrible at ranged weapons; let's try close-quarters." Naruto picked up to sticks in the likeness of their swords. He tossed one to Jonaza, who held it warily.

"It's too light…"

Naruto nodded. "I know. But you just got out of the hospital, so we can't risk sending you back."

Jonaza sighed. "Oh well. Let's start!" He vanished.

Naruto was instantly wary. The one who was hiding always had the advantage. The searcher was always the one who didn't look warily around a corner… and then… BANG!

A small noise behind alerted him. He turned… to see Jonaza coming full-tilt at him. The wood met with a loud noise. How would you describe that? Chang? Clam? Clash? What noise?... Sorry, random moment. Naruto leapt away, only to turn around and rocket back at Jonaza, who swung his sword up to hit Naruto on the jaw with a jarring crash. Naruto flew backwards before gracefully crashing into a tree ( sarcasm). Naruto stood up and grinned ruefully.

"I guess you're just as powerful with close range. "

Jonaza nodded. "One blessing from my god. Yours would just as soon added me to his army."

Naruto nodded grudgingly. "Alright, now for ninjutsu. Let's see the new technique you were working on before we left."

Jonaza grinned. "This one is a beauty, even though I say so myself. Where are those poles…?"

Naruto sighed and led him over to them. Understandable, considering they were on Jonaza's left side.

"Ah. There they are. How'd they get over there?"

"Can you just use the technique?"

"Right." Jonaza raised his arms. He made five signs, simple ones, and called out.

"Ice style: Frozen Death!"

The tree stump was suddenly surrounded by a 3-inch thick wall of ice. Jonaza sighed.

"Must have aimed wrong."

Naruto wondered why he said that, until he saw a tree behind the stump covered in about 9 inches of ice.

"Any others?"

"I have one that's still a work in progress… but I guess I can show you. But you have to show ME the one you insisted on using at our next spar."

"Alright, alright, just show me!"

Jonaza grinned. He held up his hands in a fast series of seals. He leapt into the air… and came down as a weird …_**thing. **_

He was dressed in a white and gray armor, with a large oversized katana. But it was perfect for this. It was ten feet tall, dark black in color, with a face that seemed like… well, a monster. It was an elongated face, with a small horn on the snout and several coming out the back of its head. The armor also had spikes coming out of many places, namely the wrists and shins. However, the most notable feature was the wings. Black wings, with a dark membrane, erupted out of the back, with a wingspan of at least fifteen feet. All in all, Jonaza looked like some kind of half-dragon.

"**Like it?**" The voice that came from the creature's maw was like Jonaza's, but much deeper and more gravelly.

"**I intended it to turn me into a full dragon, but as I said, it is a work in progress. However, like this I possess many qualities of the dragon. I can fly, I have a small fire-breathing ability, heightened senses, and, if I were to stay this way for the rest of my life, a much elongated lifespan, up to 500 years. Watch!**"

Jonaza suddenly disappeared, and the pole with the ice was split in two by his blade. He leapt into the air, and the force of the winds from his wings knocked another log over. He inhaled deeply, the let out a burst of fire that incinerated that second to last stump. He swiveled in mid-air, and brought up his hand. The hand had three fingers and long, wicked looking claws. A large sphere, about the size of an average globe, appeared in his hands. Blue in color, with black electrical currents around it, Jonaza threw it at the last log, with was vaporized. He landedand transformed back. Naruto was wide-mouthed. "Wha…."

Jonaza laughed. "Yep. That's one of my shock and awe techniques. Though it probably doesn't need the shock and awe. However, it takes an enormous amount of chakra; nearly half of my ready stores, which you know is a lot. Now, show me that technique you were bragging about."

Naruto nodded. "Alright, but we need to go to a new training ground. This one is out of poles."

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At the new training ground, Naruto was standing in front of the three poles.

"Alright, this attack is meant as a close quarters one. It would go nicely with Haku's ice mirrors." He made several quick seals.

"Ice Style: Thousand spears!"

Several bluish spears, seemingly made of ice, surrounded the poles. They arranged themselves into a dome around one of the poles, then flew in towards it. Several sickening 'thuds' later, the pole resembled a pincushion. Jonaza whistled.

"Nice."

Naruto grinned. "And that isn't my only one. Watch!"

He leapt in to the air, making seals and called out:

"XII blades!"

When he landed, thirteen swords glowing red and blue surrounded him. Naruto brought out his own sword and swung it. The other swords followed suit. He was also floating around 3 feet of the ground.

"And this one…"

The thirteen blades dissipated, and Naruto made three seals.

"Man's Weakness technique!"

"Hold it!!!"

A person, around 5"7' tall, chubby-ish, and pale walked on, dressed in gray shorts and a shirt saying something about being out of his mind.

"This is a story for people of all ages! If you use that technique, I'll have to make it 18+! So stop!"

He walked of in a huff.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"That was weird… I guess I can't do that without angering the one who created me in this fanfiction."

A weird, disembodied voice came on and agreed.

"Yes!"

"Well, then what do we do?"

"Something else! Go to that party Tsunade had sent out about like a week ago, which just happens to have been moved forward to tonight instead of next week! MWUHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA hack! Sorry, little something in my throat."

Naruto grabbed Jonaza's hand and poofed off.

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10 minutes later, 6 swordsmen hotel room

"Why do I have to wear the suit? I'd be more comfortable in my normal clothes."

"But, this is mandatory for all shinobi in Konoha, even ambassadors, to attend, and you're normal clothes are too casual."

Jonaza sighed. He was dressed up in an Armani suit. (Jonaza in an Armani suit… hard to picture.)

"Oh, it's also required that we either sing or tell a story, though there IS a 10k ryou bonus if you do both."

Jonaza's ears perked up.

"What're we waiting for? Come on!"

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**17 minutes later, Konoha dance hall or whatever it is**

"You're three minutes away from being late."

Tsunade was at the door, waiting for Naruto. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Jonaza, who was oddly unaffected. She narrowed her eyes more, and continued glaring, until she realized he couldn't see her.

"Well, do you have your song or story ready?"

Naruto nodded.

"Just a song, though I think Jonaza is going to do both for the 10,000 ryou. Un-financed groups always need money."

"Well then, there's someone in there to meet you. I want to talk with Mesike."

The Slug Sannin shoved Naruto inside, then closed the door before Jonaza could follow. She looked at him, then moved to his opposite side so he could see her.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I am a member of the Six Swordsmen of the Mist. I am required to be here as an ambassador."

"Are you going to slaughter us? Or take our techniques?"

Jonaza chuckled lightly. "Please. I have enough techniques to supply me for a while. As long as Takigakure doesn't get too used to the ones I have now, I should be well off for a while. As for slaughtering you, why would I slaughter allies who get me closer to my goal?"

Tsunade just glared at him for a minute. Then she opened her mouth to speak, and Jonaza walked past her an opened the door.

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**While Jonaza was having his talk with Tsunade**

The 'someone' who happened to be waiting for was… Sakura. She waved to him. She was dressed in a midnight blue kimono, like her normal one, though there was no circle, only a pattern of stars. She said to him as he approached…

"You look… different."

Cue sweatdrop.

"Two years, and all you can say is 'You look different?"

She nodded, blushing and rubbing the back of her head. Naruto shook his head and sighed. Just then Jonaza burst in.

"She's annoying. Gotta hide. See ya."

He shot off towards somewhere. Tsunade burst in as well, looking angry. She looked around for him, and then, not seeing him, turned to Naruto and said, "Why don't you start the singing?"

Naruto didn't have the chance to utter a reply as Tsunade pushed him off towards the stage, Sakura helping. When Naruto got there and all eyes where turned on him, he said:

"Well, the song I have to sing is one that was inspired by my teammates, and was written by a man I greatly respect."

He stepped away from the pedestal and started to sing:

_We are united now within these ancient wheels_

_We are united in the spirit of the music at our heels_

_On reflection we rebuild and we restore_

_We are as Mother Nature's children as we dance _

_Around the floor_

_All together, all as one_

_All together_

_Relentlessly we're dancing on_

_We are invisible upon these dancing feet_

_We're shape and shadows revolving to the one_

_eternal beat_

_With hearts connected we will turn the other round_

_We are as mother nature's children as we dance upon the ground_

_All together, all as one_

_All together_

_Relentlessly we're dancing on_

_We'll stay forever here within these timeless walls_

_We'll stay forever here no matter how the turning_

_Silver falls_

_Exhilarated we have seen this place before_

_We are as Mother Nature's children as we dance around the floor!_

When he finished, several people just stared, until one person started to clap, then another, then another, until the entire crowd was clapping.

Several more people then went, until it was Kira's turn at the bat. She stood and took the microphone, brushing her gold hair out of her eyes.

'Um… I'm not normally this serious, but I want to dedicate this song to anyone who's lost someone who they loved."

She took a deep breath and the back ground notes began

"_Here I stand, helpless and left for dead.  
Close your eyes, so many days go by.  
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right. _

I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies.

I won't stay long, in this world so wrong.

Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.  
Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight.

Trembling, crawling across my skin.  
Feeling your cold dead eyes, stealing the life of mine.

I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies.

I won't last long, in this world so wrong.

Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.  
Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight.

Hold on, hold on.

Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.  
Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight.

Hold on, hold on." 

The crowd was stunned speechless. They were expecting a joke, maybe some kind of parody, but not this. The room erupted into cheering and Kira blushed and raised her fist into the air.

"I'll see you on Broadway!"

Many more people went, until It was finally Jonaza's turn.

He stepped up to the pedestal and said to the crowd:

"This song was written by a respected man, at least by me, and I feel it describes my life perfectly."

He started to sing:

"_Your form which returns gently to heaven __  
__What else can I do, besides avenge you? __  
__I watched it for the longest time, until my tears dried up. _

_And the sorrow overflowing from the scar which can't be erased, __  
__I swore that I would never forget it. _

_I'll flap my broken wings and erase it all some day, you'll see, __  
__Until the last bell ringing the dirge completes. _

_You told me to live as if you were to die tomorrow. __  
__Fail not and be what we were now __  
__Face as if we want to have forever _

_Bright red tears traced by a trembling finger, __  
__I had nothing to lose, nothing to lose __  
__It crashes through the dark memories. _

_The last smile wavered, and disappears, __  
__And the warmth is all that's left. _

_Your kind and gentle words can't heal me now, __  
__This body's only dedicated to the never ending fight. _

_Because everyone returns to heaven, some day, __  
__You'll never need to say goodbye. _

_Break out! _

_I'll flap my broken wings and erase it all some day, you'll see, __  
__Until the last bell ringing the dirge completes. _

_Your kind and gentle words can't heal me now, __  
__This body's only dedicated to the never ending fight. _

_Redemption...redemption... "_(1) 

No one clapped. Jonaza stepped of the stage and went quietly back over to the bar, where he enjoyed a drinking contest with Zabuza. They were both tipsy, so maybe that's why Jonaza sung that song. Everyone watched him go, following him with his eyes. One girl in particular, with hair like a panda, started to clap, and then Naruto started to clap, and then everyone did, at least until Jonaza threw a wine bottle out in the crowd. (He was extremely drunk at that point, and very…. strange, so his story might be as well.)

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Five minutes later

Sakura had dragged Naruto onto the dance floor, and was dancing with him to a cool, soothing music until someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see the bar manager.

"If your friends cannot keep their tempers, they will be expelled from the premises."

Naruto looked over at the bar. A extremely drunk Jonaza and Zabuza were shouting at each other. Zabuza said, just at that moment something rather crude.

"If I do not piss now, I shall… I shall… I shall piss now!"

Jonaza clapped wildly before collapsing. Naruto shook his head.

"Throw a bucket of water on them."

The manager bowed and proceeded to do so, very much sobering them both. Jonaza cleaned himself off with a technique and threw the wine bottle against the wall. He then proceeded to the area where the ones who were telling stories were. No one noticed a certain bun haired girl also slip away towards that area.

Naruto and Sakura continued dancing, until Naruto noticed the food stall. He somehow got a doppelganger to dance with Sakura, while he checked it out. They had ramen, much to his eternal enjoyment.

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Jonaza was waiting his turn to tell his story. He was enduring some freak with large eyebrows yelling about youthfulness. When it was his turn to tell his story, he began to speak.

"This story is about a man… and what he did." He cleared his throat, and began to speak…

"Several thousand years ago, there lived a normal man, named Sonin Makia. He was around 28 years old, around 6"0', with dark turquoise hair, red eyes, and a birthmark on his hand in the shape of a heart. His favorite garb was a black suit, equipped with all sorts of hidden pockets for storing weaponry and such like. His favorite weapons were two long blades, much like a long kitchen knife used to cut meat into pieces, though they did not have saw-like extensions. He was married to a woman named Hira, and she was the highlight of his life. He basically lived to see her in the doorway when he came home. One day, as he was out on a mission, for he was a mercenary or assassin, depending on the job, a man raped and murdered her. When Sonin got home, he found that the man was his own brother. They fought, and the battle razed more than one village to the ground. However, Makia was defeated, and he swore revenge on his brother. From that day, he trained and battled the toughest creatures he could find, without fear of death. He did not care, for if he died he would be with his beloved. Eventually, he adapted the powers of the mage to be more usable for the un-magically inclined, and he called it ninjutsu, adapted two of the words for 'combat' and 'magic'. That has been adapted over the long years into 'ninjutsu', and those are the arts known today. He was one of the first to realize elementals, large creatures that roamed the earth at the time, were weak to the opposite element. And so he went to a smith, and demanded that the smith create him eight weapons of unequaled power, one for each element. The smith labored for seven long years to find the materials necessary, and another seven to create the blades. It was during these fourteen years that Sonin Makia, by then not caring about living, and living only of the thirst for revenge, went deep into a cursed forest to meet a great evil. This evil, under the name of Gre-snazqt, or in his cursed language 'winged king', the father of the two races of vampire and werewolf, demanded to be made the mixture that a select few were. Gre agreed, and upon being made a werepyre, as we shall call them, he slew Gre-snazqt and took his position as High King of the Forest, also winning the title of Evil Race Champion. He then commanded all three of his armies, save around three thousand of each race, to search the land for this man, Makia's brother. He also called the smith to him once more, and commanded that the smith forge him an axe fitting for his new shape. The smith labored another seven long years to make this axe, and upon its completion Makia also slew the smith. He combined the eight blades of the eight elements, fire, water, energy, ice, earth, wind, light, and darkness, with the greataxe and forged the Reaper of Souls, an evil weapon inside of which the smith had imprisoned the King of Daemons, a great 121 tailed wolf, inside. With this weapon, he wreaked devastation until he found and killed his brother. However, his evil was so great that next he turned his armies on the people of the world. The Ring of Ancients, the last and most powerful of the mages, using an ancient and powerful spell, managed to stop him just before he unleashed the daemon inside his sword. However, their spell merged him with the blade and freed the monster anyways. Using the last of their strength, they split him into a host of lesser demons, the greatest being the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Rumour has it that the Reaper of Souls, with Sonin Makia sealed inside of it, is still out there somewhere, waiting for someone evil, unfortunate, or stupid enough to free him. However, this evil man was the father, not only of the demons, but also ninjutsu as well. We owe him the greatest evils that this land had been plagued by: us ninja, and the Demons."

He stood up and walked away. This story had entranced most of the people to listen and watch, for Jonaza had used a genjutsu on everyone in the story corner to show the tale. Most of them were in a shock after hearing this, and the happy atmosphere that had pervaded the space was gone.

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Well, now. If I say so myself, HUGE CLUE! Syrnon might not know what he is dealing with here… Mehehehehehe… remember this come the third book. Also, expect a timeskip between this and the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2: A Little bit of History

Chapter Two: A little bit of history

"Why did you tell _that _story?"

Jonaza picked up a pack of kunai and strapped it to his leg. "It wasn't a story."

Naruto frowned. "Then what on Earth was it? And what are you doing?"

Jonaza picked up another foot long knife, inspected it, and put it through the little holsters he had on his legs for that reason.

"It was a real event, it really happened, and Sonin Makia is still out there somewhere. And I'm preparing to go away."

Naruto sighed. Every month or so, Jonaza would go out and do something- and returned exhausted of chakra and weapons.

"Are you sure? Those five you fought might be out there, trying to find you."

"I won't be able to afford being so arrogant this time."

"Well… do you need help?"

"It would be welcome, but this is personal. Unless you have something against them, I advise you stay here."

Naruto sighed. "Oh well."

Jonaza looked at him, and smiled. "Why don't you spar with Haku? I haven't seen you do that recently."

Naruto's ears perked up a little at hearing about fighting his old friend.

"I guess…"

He turned to see an empty room. He sighed again.

"Be careful…."

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_One year later…_

"Look out!"

The explosion rocked the forest, and sent Zabuza rocketing into a tree. Naruto whirled, snarling towards the shinobi who caused it to happen, and launched himself at him and decapitated him with his claw._  
_"Water style: Great Tsunami!"

A huge wave swept all the shinobi away, at least for a while. Jonaza dropped from somewhere above.

"Damn, war is annoying… so many people… all trying to kill lil' ol' me… "

"_PONTENAI!" _

A massive black vortex enveloped all four of them, destroying the rest of the forest.

Inside, Naruto, Zabuza, and Jonaza were looking around. A man appeared in front of them.

"Welcome to my dark realm, what will remain when my master gains his wish. You will meet your doom here…" Syrnon charged, his lithe blade at the ready for a quick strike. He swung, only to have his blow parried by Naruto's sword.

"Take out those creatures! I'll hold him off!"  
Jonaza and Zabuza nodded, and charged towards the creatures. They were black, large, and roughly shaped like men. However, men don't have swords for arms. One of them slashed at Jonaza, only to be decapitated by a claw. Jonaza whirled, killing three more. He slashed at the last in the group that had attacked him, only to find it parry his strike. Zabuza found himself in a similar dilemma. Syrnon laughed.

"Have I mentioned that my huntsmen get stronger for every one you slay? And I have thousands of them… my master will be well prepared to take this world."

Jonaza grimaced. "Shyte." (pronounced shite.)

Naruto grimaced as well, but he had his own battle to attend to. He parried one of Syrnon's slashes and swung his own. To his surprise, it connected with his arm. Syrnon cursed and hacked at Naruto, landing a good blow on his leg. Naruto swore, and leaped away, putting his sword up and making seals as fast as he could.

"Ice Style: Thousand Spears!"

Hundreds of blue spears appeared around Syrnon, and they flew at him, many impaling themselves in him. Syrnon laughed, and then dissipated into mist.

"You're good; I'll show you something new…!"

He appeared, making seals as rapidly as he could. "Demonic blade!"

He held up his sword. Normally a normal katana, save the blood red hilt and black blade, it was now a strange weapon. Black, save a gold hilt, there seemed to be small black spectre running up and down the blade, which was a different shade of blue. He looked up at Naruto and charged. He brought the blade down with more force than Naruto had ever felt, and Naruto's arm went numb.

_**Naruto's POV**_

He was strong, stronger then I was and ever had been. I don't just mean that physically; he was as deadly in ninjutsu as he was in swordsmanship. And his blade… those spirits that seem to float around it… it's like they poison my arm; I can barely move one of them, and I can't swing my sword one-handed like Zabuza. What's more, once I had injured him, he got that new sword and became even stronger! Well, if I can't beat him, he won't get away unscathed…

_**Normal POV**_

Naruto let loose with a stream of wide blows that had no chance of connecting. Syrnon laughed, dodging them, and opened another gash, this time on his cheek, giving Naruto his opening. He slashed across Syrnon's chest, making him gasp in pain. Syrnon's smirk turned into an expression of rage. He leapt away from Naruto, making seals.

"Angelic Blade!"

A bright light blinded Naruto, making him shield his eyes. What he saw afterwards made him despair.

Syrnon's blade had once again changed form, this time resembling an axe. It was silver and gray in color, with a black hilt with a guard that formed a circle around the main part of the hilt. It had a spiraling blade, ending with a sharp point. The axe extension was almost at the end of the blade. It was black and silver, with what looked like a crescent moon, silver and black, with tiny kunai coming out of it. Syrnon looked at Naruto, pointed the blade at him, and said:

"Gryhalo!"

A small silver spear flew out of the blade and went for Naruto, who knocked it away with his claw. All of a sudden, a small pinprick of light burst out of the place they were; it was black everywhere else. Another and another came, until the black world was no more. The huntsman Zabuza and Jonaza had been fighting dissipated into a black fog. They turned to see…

Itachi and Kisame.

"ONBUUUUUUUU!"

Oh yes, I can't forget Kira, can I?

"Onbu to Seaworld and Freaky eyes, we're here!"

Kisame gritted his teeth. "Next time I pick the codenames."

Jonaza stared at them impassively. "Why are you here?"

Kira grinned. "We saw the big black thingie, and they said that you two dying wouldn't improve the leader's mood."

Syrnon laughed, a cruel, malicious laugh.

"Then you will join them in oblivion!"  
He rose in the air, a white-black aura surrounding him. He said a word and vanished. A huge black orb, near the size of the land of waves, appeared and started moving down towards them. Naruto made seals as fast as he could, but Jonaza grabbed his hand.

"Save your chakra. This thing can't be stopped. Everyone that likes life, come here."

Everyone came there. Jonaza started to concentrate, and another black orb with multi-colored streamers of chakra flew around it. Everyone saw blackness.

------------------------------------------

_3 hrs. later_

"So you are saying that one man took down all three of you?"

Tsunade was looking concerned and cross.

"It was my fault. I rid us of the main part of his little raiding party and made him attack us."

Tsunade glared at Jonaza. One year later, and not much had changed, though Jonaza was better with ranged weapons now.

"So you caused one of the best warriors we have to need to be hospitalized for a long time? His hamstring was nearly severed. Naruto won't be able to walk for a month."

"It won't take that long. You forget, he is a jinchuuriki."

Tsunade nodded grudgingly.

"Also, we eliminated a patrol. And we ARE ambassadors, not your own personal tools. We get the payment agreed on. And when you said 'one of **our** best warriors, didn't you mean 'one of **your **best warriors? He is not a Konoha shinobi anymore. His is one of Kirigakure."

Tsunade ground her teeth.

"If you are done, we will take our leave."

Jonaza and Zabuza left.

Tsunade slammed her fist into the wall, leaving a small dent. She had had them titanium laced so that she couldn't break them, or even dent them. She was very angry.

"I hate that man…"

---------------------------------------------------

Well, I'm tired, it's All Hallow's Eve, and I want to play my RPG, so here it is. You can wait the night until I post it.


	4. Chapter 4: Tides of War

Chapter 4: War Tidings

'Argh…'

'Thank you.'

Syrnon leapt away from the man, sheathing his sword. An arm fell off the corpse, followed by the head.

---------------------------------------------------------------

'So, is he ready?'

Tsunade sighed.

'Yes, Naruto is ready for missions. However, I suggest we keep him here for a few days to recover-'

'Out of the question. Mizukage-sama has requested that all Swordsmen are dispatched to kill a squadron of Earth shinobi near the Mist Village.'

'Alright, alright.'

'We will pick him up and brief him. Swordsmen, out.'

'Can't we change the name to Swordspeople?'

'No, Kira.' Jonaza said exasperatedly.

'Why not?'

'Because it's been called Swords**men** for several hundred years. Now, move, or I will personally shred your Onbu toy.'

Kira left with a squeak.

'Well, now, that's taken care of, I guess we should go pick Naruto up.'

The rest of the Swordsmen left without a sound.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_At the hospital_

'I finally get to leave?'

Jonaza smiled. Naruto had always hated hospitals.

'Yep. We have a mission to kill a bunch of Earth shinobi that are coming up on Kirigakure.'

Naruto broke out into a huge grin.

'Yes! Time for some testing of this new thing!'

He frowned.

'Of course, it was tested, but I'm not sure it really counts, since it was someone incredibly powerful.'

'It counts as tested; it doesn't get recorded in power.'

Naruto brightened up.

'That's ok, then.'

'Grab your stuff; we leave in ten minutes.'

-----------------------------------

_**Exactly 10.0000003254 minutes later**_

'You're late.'

Naruto, stopped, puzzled. 'Wha-? It's been exactly ten minutes!'

'No. We're behind schedule. Move!'

Zabuza leapt off into the trees. Naruto followed after, followed by the rest of the Swordsmen.

They arrived within Kirigakure several hours later, just in time to have a short rest.

After they had, Jonaza pulled out a map of the continent. He pointed at a small forest on the coast.

'This is where the Earth band will be. I've heard they are rebels, going against the Tsuchikage, so they may not be hostile, but still, gear up in case.'

Everyone reached towards the various weapon racks around the walls. Haku grabbed several packs of senbon, as well as a chakra potion. Zabuza has a good arsenal of kunai, shuriken, and a sai or two. Kira took some bandages, a healing salve, several energy and chakra potions, and a little bottle she refused to tell anyone what it was. Naruto just grabbed a few pack of kunai. Lyrinian grabbed an elaborate wakizashi and a sai. Jonaza took nothing.

'All right, if you all have everything you need, then we need only to grab a few provisions and get on our way.'

He produced several gray packages. Kira stored them away since she had the most room.

'All right, team. This is an A-ranked priority mission, with a difficulty rating of B. If we complete this, our wallets will be much fatter, though I know that's only a side benefit. We will complete this with 100 perfection, as always. Embark.'

The six vanished.

They arrived where they would ambush the Earth ninja and lay in wait.

'Do you think they'll know we're coming?'

Kira pricked her ears up.

'Of course not. Those rumors we've spread about being rebels will mean they'll accept us with open arms, and then we strike.'

Zabuza turned to Jonaza, waiting to see what the order was. Jonaza raised his arm…

… And dropped it.

All seven of the elite six leapt out of the trees.

The small band of fifty never had a chance.

Zabuza was about to plunge his sword into the last man's chest, but Jonaza stopped him.

'Let this man carry a warning to the Earth village. Anymore attempted raids will result in the same as this: Utter failure.'

Jonaza turned, as did Zabuza, after fixing him with a stare that could make fresh milk sour.

----------------------------------------------

_**Three hours later, Office of the Mizukage**_

'Well done.'

The Mizukage beamed happily at the six warriors.

'All of you will receive the salary of ¥500, as well as a 12 bonus on all furtger missions salary.'

Naruto hung open mouthed.

'Can you afford this?' Kira asked.

'Oh course. We have been paid substantially by the Leaf for our services, as well as other clients. Also, Naruto's new fishing technique increased hauls by almost 70.'

Naruto turned away, muttering something.

'All in all, an excellent job. Mission complete.'

----------------------------------------------------------

Thus ends another chapter of Hope for the Bleak.

¥


	5. Chapter 5: The Ultimate Meaning

Chapter Five: New Beginnings and a Few old Ending

_The explosion cleared a large portion of the wall. Everywhere, screaming, crying, wailing, burning was rampant. Unnoticed in the commotion, the assassin moved quickly and quietly. He was scared. He was nervous. He was unhappy. He was in ecstasy. _

_And he was going to die._

_All he had to do, he kept reminding himself, was get close. Once he got close, he could activate the bomb, sealed within him using the same technique that had imprisoned so many other things._

_This time, however, he could not walk away from the explosion as he had so many times before. This time, his body would be the one mangled, not even identifiable, and his target may not have been injured at all._

_But he had to take the chance that he could harm the great demon._

_He stepped over the wounded and the dying, avoiding being seen by all. If his target was as honorable as everything he had read and observed suggested, he would soon appear. He would come to help his people._

_And then he would die._

The man's scream didn't help. All they did was distract the apprentice interrogator, merely learning the ropes on a low-level prisoner.

He wouldn't have any information. Naruto cursed. He had to stay here and listen to the poor soul suffer and die. True, many more had died under his sword than would die under this man's knife, but with them, it was quick. One slice to the heart or throat and they were visited by the Shinigami. With these, it would take days or even weeks for the blissful nothingness to embrace them. All for one man's experience.

Naruto again cursed. Death. Death, and the running from it. That was what ultimately caused everything wrong in the world. Some love it, leaving their own lives to feel its embrace. Others cower from it, doing whatever possible to postpone its arrival. All useless. Death will come to all. One day, all will leave the shell they called a body and rise up to the embrace. The only difference is how.

How? Well, that is all that anyone really wants to change during their life. They may not know it, but it is. Heroes want to die gloriously. Rich men want to die in comfort. Cowards wish to die unknowingly.

But death, some argue, is merely an obstacle. Life will prevail; it always has.

But what is life but the preparation for death? What is life but the absence of death? What is life, if not but the first page of the first prologue of the book of eternity?

Naruto shook his head. The books he had been reading had been getting to him. Philosophy was not his strong suit, nor should it be. That was better off in the hands of better, wiser men.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He didn't even know why he was here. All he knew was that a communiqué had come from pretty high up the chain of command that he was to wait here for further orders.

They hadn't arrived. It was three or four hours since the note was sent.

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. If he had to wait here, he'd wait here his own style. Within minutes, he was asleep.

-------------------------------------------

_The assassin had found a good hiding spot and entrenched himself. He had a good view, and could note every little detail going on in the wreckage and burning. Several hours later, the flames were still going strong and the death count was still rising steeply. The assassin closed his eyes, going into a semi-meditative state that allowed him to remain conscious and focused while still retaining his maximum energy. His target would likely not show up for a long while. He needed the rest and mental preparation._

-------------------------------------------

Naruto was awoken by the noise of a small cough. A young genin, no older than eleven or twelve, was standing in front of him. Naruto rose, stretched, and yawned, and looked down at the poor boy.

'Well? I presume you didn't wake me for the entertainment?'

The boy quivered, and tremulously help out a slip of paper. Naruto took it and read it. In a messy scrawl he roughly identified, he read:

_Explosion- east side of town- 163 dead, 41 injured, 276 fatally wounded. _

_**COME!!**_

_Kira_

Naruto sighed. A long, messy, and completely boring day was about to become a long, messy, and completely terrible day. He stood up, exited via the window, and headed to the other end of town.

-------------------------------------------

_The assassin arose from his meditative slumber. He had waited long enough. If his target was not here, he would have to be searched for and removes. The assassin disliked the idea of deviating from the original plan, but he had always known he may have to; relying on other people, especially the opposing side, always requires some flexibility in the planning process._

_-------------------------------_

Naruto arrived within ten minutes of the arrival of the messenger. The destruction was unimaginable. The casualties would number in the thousands if the blaze wasn't stopped, and it looked like that wasn't going to happen soon. Despite the number of water techniques that are common in the Village of Hidden Mist, fighting fires was uncommon. With water on four of four sides of an island, with a very humid atmosphere when it wasn't raining, any sort of wildfire was uncommon, and it was downright unheard of to have caused this much damage.

Especially during a rainstorm. Something wasn't right.

------------------------------

_The assassin resisted the urge to move, to relieve his aching and cramped muscles. Five more minutes. That was what he would allow the target. He had been told and had based his planning on the notion that his target was an idealist, with a heavy sense of honor and placed a high value on human life. The assassin had believed that he would have arrived as soon as he heard of the news. He had, so far, been disappointed. _

_-------------------------------_

Naruto had begun to start to sift through the rubble to help, clearing out quite a few corpses and a few living, when a man with long black hair, a sword nearly obscenely large, and a black jumpsuit landed beside him and began to sift through the rubble with him.

Jonaza was the first to tender conversation.

'How?'

Naruto merely shook his head. 'I don't know. I presume you received Kira's note?'

Jonaza nodded slowly. 'In a roundabout way. I was returning from an operation when I saw Zabuza and Lyrinian dashing in the way of this part of town. I slowed them down, asked them what was up. They showed me the note I'm assuming you're talking about.'

---------------------------------

_The assassin raised his head, as a dog did when it sighted something unusual. He had found the man in black. Silently, so silently that not the greatest eagle could hear it, he began to move._

---------------------------------

Naruto had helped Jonaza and Kira to clear out as much of the rubble as possible, and had found many who were dead or dying, and many who would never move the same again. Over four hundred dead and only a hundred wounded. That was not usual.

But so was a perpetuating flame in the middle of rain.

---------------------------------

_All that he needed now was the power to resist the urge for life. His life was not necessary. All he did was for his family and his country. He closed his eyes and begane to count. When he reached zero, he jumped._

_When three feet above his target, he detonated._

---------------------------------

**AN: Okay, let me just explain what took so long with this chapter. First, I lost internet access. Then, when I got a new computer, I didn't have word. When I started it on a different computer, that computer wouldn't save, and I kept losing progress. Then school picked up, and a snowball became an avalanche. So, please forgive the two-year period between the last chapter and this. Enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6: Paradise, This is Not

**Chapter 6: Paradise, This is Not**

'One name. One name and all of this can go away.'

-------------------------------------

_The assassin hung his head, more out of shame than comfort. He had failed, utterly and sincerely. He had not killed his target, and, worse, he had failed to die himself. The months they spent recuperating him, he was sure, was not out of pity or care for his welfare, but instead of a wish for information._

_He would give them nothing._

-----------------------------------

'Listen to me. You will not escape. No help will come. Your only hope of release, of help, is through me. If you have any hope of seeing your home, your family, if you have one, again, is to talk to me. One name, that's all I want.' Kira finished.

The assassin raised his head, his eyes dull, and a startling gray. 'Woman, I will give you nothing. Kill me now and let me be, or let me go.'

Kira shook her head, slowly and sadly. 'Those are the two things we cannot do. If we let you go, you will return and lead another force, and if we kill you, we have no knowledge of any other attacks. One name, one place, those are all I need to help you. If you do not accept my offer of better conditions in exchange for information, you'll have to submit to pain beyond anything you've ever imagined. So now, I'll ask you for a last time: Who sent you here?'

The assassin gazed at her for a short period of time. He then switched his gaze all around the room, obviously scanning it for whatever he could. The interrogation was the first human interaction he had had for weeks, other than the food being pushed in through the slot, and even that happened so silently he couldn't detect it until he felt it in the dark. The table, light, and the girl had been refreshing to him, but the interrogation was becoming rote.

'I have told you all that I will tell you. Either kill me or free me. I will not give you anything.'

Kira stood. 'Are you certain that this is your choice?'

The assassin looked up at her balefully. 'What have I been repeating for the last four weeks?'

Kira nodded stiffly, beckoned towards the window, and left the room. The lights shut off.

---------------------------------

_The assassin was unsure how long it had been since she left, maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour. Time was irrelevant in this place; all he knew was that he was sitting in the dark._

_And then the voice spoke._

_---------------------------------_

'So, you have to decided upon my company.' It wasn't the harsh voice of an interrogator, but more the voice of a concerned father or leader. The assassin straightened his position and tried to identify the location of the voice.

'I have decided nothing but my own path. If you are an obstruction, then I will suffer you and move on.'

The voice chuckled. 'But am I merely an obstruction? Maybe I am more than this, maybe I am less. This all depends on what you decide to say to me.'

The assassin wearily responded. 'I have told your predecessor and I will tell your successor. I will tell you nothing; either let me go or kill me.'

The voice was silent for a while at this. 'Kill you, I undoubtedly shall. However, your manner of death will be dependent upon what you say to me. I will ask you once. Who sent you to kill Naruto Uzimaki?'

'I will tell you nothing. Kill me or—'

'Yes, yes, I know: kill you or release you. I had hoped that I may spare you this.'

The lights came flooding on, illuminating the entire room and burning the assassin's eyes, which had become accustomed to weeks of solid, pitch black darkness. He noticed that he was in a relatively clean room, with a mirrored window facing him from across the table. The producer of the voice was nowhere to be found.

A sudden, sharp blow hit the assassin in the kidney, immediately filling his lower back with excruciating pain. He would have bent over if it weren't for the cords strapping him to the chair. He let out a small, involuntary gasp of pain and shut his eyes.

When he opened them, there was a man in front of him who had not been there before. The man smiled nicely.

'I'm sorry. Did that hurt?'

The assassin glared at him and tried to regain his composure.

'We did give you the opportunity, you know. You could have talked to the nice lady and received a bed, a shower, and some warm food, but you opted for the hard way out.' While talking to the assassin, he had removed a strap from his leg and laid it on the table. He then produced a small vial from within his jumpsuit and removed the stopper, and pulled one of the needles from the pack. He dipped the tip of the needle in the ominous orange liquid.

'Now, then. One last chance. Who hired you?'

The assassin's only answer was to spit. Jonaza calmly wiped it from his face and reached over the table to bend the elbow. When he had it at a ninety degree angle, he poked the needle through the assassin's arm until it came out the other side.

'I must say, you do need to improve your torture techniques.' Jonaza briefly glanced at the assassin, smiled, and rammed the man's arm back into a straight 180 degree angle with a sickening _crack_. The man groaned.

'Still not want to talk? That poison was a mix of a very painful poison and sodium pentothal. Either you'll start screaming, and want to tell the truth, you'll tell the truth, or you'll go insane. I haven't tested it yet. Oh, and your elbow isn't broken; the noise was the needle snapping. I guess I closed your elbow a little harder than expected. Now, then, how are you feeling? And do be honest, this is for posterity.'

The assassin was regaining his breath when the nausea hit. He lurched forward and expelled the contents of his stomach all over the table. Jonaza raised an eyebrow.

'Interesting. So who hired you?'

The assassin started to tremble violently, his hands spasming and a sickly pallor began to spread across his face, and he started to gasp, as though having trouble breathing.

'Hmmm. If I had to, I'd guess that that's the wyvern venom. I guess I put too much in.' Jonaza pulled out another needle and a dropper. His put two drops onto the needle, and gently poked it into the assassin's forearm. The color returned to his cheeks and his breath returned, though he kept spasming.

'Oh, good, it does something other than strangle them. Otherwise, the extracting-information-before-dying part would be extremely difficult.' Jonaza jotted a few notes down on a pad he had handy. 'Now then, I am getting tired. Tell me who hired you.'

The assassin shuddered, leaning forward in the chair. 'If I tell you, everything I have ever worked for will die. I did not accept this only for the money; I accepted it because all of you damned jinchuriki need to die. He would be the first step. Many others have already been dealt with, and the few that remain will be soon killed.' He looked up at Jonaza, his face showing his first emotion, other than pain: rage and conviction. 'You will all suffer in the end. You will all burn, and we will live in the greatest era of peace and prosperity that we have ever known, and I will be rewarded for my bravery. You will all die! Your fields will become dust, you men will perish, and your own bodies will be destroyed in the cleansing fires, and your women will be turned into our wives and we shall take all that which was once the demon's property and turn it into the greatness of our tribe! We-'

Jonaza's fist stopped his rant. The table had been thrown aside. The assassin seemed to shrink, just as Jonaza seemed to grow taller.

'You are a damned fool, and you will die for it.' His voice, previously loud and furious, was know even more frightening, low and sinister, the voice of a man struggling to control himself. He seemed to grow, filling all of the assassin's vision, and a black fire seemed to burn behind and within his eyes, normally a shocking blue, now a burning red.'I will give you one last chance, and then I will become serious. Who hired you?'

The assassin, looking terrified, raised his trembling chin and addressed Jonaza in his arrogant manner.

'Kill me. I will tell you nothing, and I will gladly die for my honor.'

Jonaza chuckled, though this time it wasn't the chuckle of a main about to inflict pain: it was the meaty chuckle of a hunter about to kill his prey. 'Oh, but you _will_ tell me something. You may not remember it, due to the amount of pain you will be in, but you **will** tell me something.' He seemed to grow even more. The assassin let out a scream, before all was black.

-------------------------------------------------

Kira rubbed her eyes, tired. The interrogation wasn't going well. Three months recuperating, another month trying to squeeze him for information, and finally needing to send in Jonaza. All she needed now was news that the Leaf had decided to break the alliance and attack. She sighed and lay her head on the table in the anteroom. She just wanted to sleep, she had been working long hours for a month, and on top of it all, she was coming down with a cold.

And then the window turned black, and she heard an ear-piercing shriek.

---------------------------------------------

_The assassin looked around. All around he could hear the voices of the dying: hundreds crushed by falling building or burned alive in the fires. And the screaming… the screaming was constant and grating._

_**So now you see your handiwork. I hope you are proud**__. The assassin whirled around, the come face to face with a fully black dragon, which, as he was looking, morphed into a monstrous snake, which spoke again._

_**You have killed without thought, and without reason. You have killed due to a hatred caused by fallacious reasoning. I tell you this, now: This is where all of your ilk will come one day. They, too, will feel the torment of their dead, and they will long to have a chance for release. **__The snake, mid-sentence, morphed into a large wolverine, and then into a crow's ugly form.. All were jet black, with one exception: they had eyes the color of blood._

_**Well, look around you. All you see is your own doing. Did these people have demons? Did these people ever kill needlessly? DID THEY?**_

_As the beast asked him this, it swelled until it filled the assassin's sight. A ring of the flames shot out from the carnage, and surrounded the man. The assassin, formerly so brave, so impudent, cowered and began to cry._

_'Please… my family… they'll kill my family if they find I did anything to help you…'_

_The crow's glare softened somewhat. __**We are not, as you may believe, heartless monsters. All we need to know is who hired you. Tell us that, and we can find and save your family, and protect them along with you. I just need a name. And your honor? Everyone breaks. It may not be soon, but everyone breaks eventually.**_

_The assassin looked up, the image of a supplicant. 'I can do better than one name. I can give you three.'_

_--------------------------------------_

Kira pounded on the door for the umpteenth time before giving up. If a door can be broken down, she can break it. The door had probably long since been reduced to dust, but the sealing spell placed by Jonaza couldn't be. She collapsed and leaned against the wall…

…when the darkness vanished and Jonaza exited the room. He glanced down at Kira.

'Get him a clean, comfortable room, and gently pump him for information. Find out where he's from, who his family is, any restraints put on his mission, his targets, and send Lyrinian and Zabuza to my office.' Kira huffed.

'So what? I work to "gently pump him for information" for a month, getting nothing, and then you go in for an hour and you decide to give him what I was promising all that time for nothing, and you have nothing to show for it?'

'What I have to show for it is not what you need to know. All you need to do is what I said.'

'So I'm important enough to try to get information, but not important enough to be trusted with it?'

'Your knowledge of the information gained could be disastrous.'

'So you don't trust me?'

'I don't trust anyone who isn't directly involved in the mission or my immediately inferior officer, as the law requires, with the details of a mission, as this will undoubtedly is. Too many men have been lost to loose-lipped officials. I don't doubt your honesty; I doubt the men you have to report to. And, just to remind you, being your commanding officer, your job isn't to question me, it's to obey my orders efficiently. Send Lyrinian and Zabuza to my office.'

Kira raised her hand to her forehead in a mock salute, and then turned. She had other things to do.

-------------------------------------------

'You two know you wouldn't be here if I didn't have a good reason, so I'm just going to tell this two you flat out.' Jonaza looked the two men, one tall, dark, and muscular, the other average, fair, and lean.

'Lyrinian, you're going to undertake one of the most secretive and dangerous missions we've ever sent a shinobi on, and if you're caught, we will deny any knowledge of you having ever been sent to do this. You will be labeled one of the greatest enemies of the Mist ever, and one of the worst traitors, and we will hunt you down and kill you.' Lyrinian, fixed with a stare, merely shrugged and nodded.

'Zabuza, you're here because, by order of the law, the next lowest rung on the chain of command has to be informed of any mission authorized. Other than that, I would have preferred to keep you out of the loop. As it is, try to utilize a selective memory.' Zabuza also nodded.

'So what am I being sent to do?' Jonaza turned his gaze back upon Lyrinian.

'You are being sent to follow, observe, and, if I give the order, kill, Koharu Utane, Homuro Mitokado, and the man known as Danzo, of the Konoha Council.'

-------------------------------

**AN: Well, I'm actually kind of shocked how good it feels to be writing again. I'm also pretty sure that this is the longest chapter I've written, clocking in at 2500 words. I'm tired now, but I figured that, to help keep a few things straight, I'll put some bios at the bottom, explaining each character in a small amount of detail, at least as to how they are and pertain to my story. As always, see you next time, criticize constructively, and review!**

**Uzamaki Naruto **

_Age_: 21

_Lift/Press Weight_: Approx. 3 tons.

_Combat Specialty_: Summoning and brute force to overpower the opponent, often using debilitating jutsus to help batter down an opponent's defenses. Can utilize surprise and speed to his advantage, but prefers to merely knock an enemy down. He can also use the claw on his left hand surprisingly well in a taijutsu match.

_Paraphernalia:_ Naruto carries little in the way of paraphernalia, preferring to get up close and personal, or using a jutsu, than use a knife or a shuriken from afar. However, he will use them if needed, and as such carries a pack. He also wields a few scrolls containing techniques he may not want to risk using otherwise. Jonaza forged his sword using his kekkei genkai and a large portion of both the kyuubi's and Naruto's charkas.

**Mesike Jonaza **

_Age_: 25

_Lift/Press Weight_: Approx. 5 tons

_Combat Specialty_: Chakra and demonic techniques, having invented tens, if not hundreds, of his own techniques. He can also imitate many opponent's jutsus merely by observation, as years of training have allowed him to do so. He also has a somewhat unique kekkei genkai that allows him to conjure weapons, such as swords, shuriken, and kunai, also it drains him considerably to do so. He is also the best combatant with a sword to be found, and is renowned for his ability as a smith, skilful in both making the blades and enchanting them.

_Paraphernalia:_ His sword is the main combat item he carries with him. Large, jet black, and capable of powerful hacks and thrusts, this is his main combat tool. However, he also carries a few summoning scrolls and shuriken/kunai. His sword was given to him when he was a child by his father, and he has added many hundreds of protection and enhancement techniques to it, such as lightening its weight greatly for him, or causing it to burst into flame when lifted by anyone other than him.

**Lyrinian**

_Age_: 20

_Lift/Press Weight_: Approx 800 pounds

Combat Specialty: Quick blade fighting, deception, and assassination. He tends to dazzle an opponents with swift strikes before dashing past the lowered guard for the kill. Wields a unique double-bladed katana, charged with electricity, originally made by Mesike Jonaza for the Mizukage. He has an affinity for throwing knives, and has recorded kills with them at up to a hundred yards. He also knows quite a few camouflage and chameleon techniques, and is primarily used as an assassin, though he's no slouch in an open fight. While relatively weak in comparison to most other shinobi, he counters this with his speed, able to sprint for short periods of time at speeds of up to 100 MPH, and can move his arms and fists faster than the eye can see.

_Paraphernalia_: In addition to the sword mentioned above, he carries a sheath of throwing and ballistic knives above his right breast. Like all ninja, he carries a pack of shuriken on his leg and kunai on his lower back.

**Kira **

_Age:_23

_Lift/Press weight: _Anywhere from a ton or so without chakra-funneled hands, or up to a hundred tons with.

_Combat Specialty: _She has remarkable skill in medicine, and can heal most major injuries with little thought. She also has the human anatomy memorized, knowing exactly where to put a fist or blade to cripple or kill. She is also one of the foremost leaders in genjutsu, and uses this talent in her other area of expertise, interrogation.

_Paraphernalia:_ She is the only member of the Six Swords to carry much in this way. On any normal day, when expecting combat, she can be carrying up to fifty shuriken, ten kunai, four or five bottles of poison or antidote, her sword, and a pack of rations. Her sword is unusual, to say the least, and possibly the most powerful of the Six Swordsmen's. Jet black on one side, as white as virgin snow on the other, the sword can be both a blessing and a curse. The white side will heal any injury, unless treated with poison, even mental or spiritual ones. The black side, however, will cut through nearly all materials, and, if cutting into flesh and failing to kill it, will cause a plague. This somewhat hampers Kira's ability in battle, as, being a naturally merciful person, she will always finish off a wounded opponents, rather than allow them to suffer. The sword's cross guard reflects the blades itself. On the side of healing, the cross guard is an angel's wing, but on the side of death, the large, menacing, top jaw of a wolf. It was given to her by Jonaza, though he didn't make it.

**Momochi Zabuza**

_Age: _33

_Lift/Press Weight:_ Approx 8 tons

_Combat Specialty: _He has great skill in physical force and blade work, using them to destroy an opponent in a style much like Naruto's. Unlike Naruto, he is a master of the Silent Killing Technique, often blanketing an area in mist before use. His skill is such that he doesn't even need the use of his eyes in order to perform this; he just needs to hear his opponents. He is also incredibly skilled in water style techniques.

_Paraphernalia:_ He carries a pack of shuriken and kunai in addition to his sword, the Decapitating Carving Knife.

**Haku**

_Age: _22

_Lift/Press Weight:_ Approx 1 ton

_Combat Specialty:_ He has the entire human anatomy memorized, down to the last chakra node, and has uncanny accuracy with his senbon needles. He also uses his kekkei genkai, allowing the mixture of wind and water styles to create ice, with startling efficiency, able to kill most opponents with ease.

_Paraphernalia: _He carries large amounts of senbon, in addition to the standard set of shuriken and kunai. He also tends to carry a set of lockpicks. His sword is easily the most visually common one, looking no different to a normal katana lacking a cross guard. However, it holds an amazing amount of chakra within, allowing him to use more draining techniques than he normally could. It was made for him by Jonaza, and the chakra has been added over a few years.


	7. Chapter 7: I Guess That Ends Negotiation

Disclaimer: I haven't put one of these in here since a long while ago. Lyrinian, Kira, the fifth Mizukage(in this story) Jonaza, Syrnon, Theris, the Village Hidden in Thorns, and the overall plot are mine. Everything else belongs to the respectable Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter Seven: I Guess That Ends Negotiations

'We have a situation.'

'Your assassin failed.' The first man cringed and flapped his hand.

'Theris was assured of his abilities. Besides, even if they did capture him, he will never reveal anything. The zealots of his kind are too prideful for that. Besides, we have our insurance policy.'

'You do not know my brother as I do. He will stop at nothing to find out who did this. Your clients will not be pleased when they wake up and find a sword embedded in their chests.'

'They are too well protected, and besides, they live in what was once the most powerful village, and is still the largest. Besides, they will not retaliate against allies.'

'I have stated before: you do not know my brother. I do not doubt he'd raze the village if it meant he could have his revenge. Do not disbelieve me: he may act like a civilized and refined person, but beneath, he's just like me: a rabid animal who holds his own chain.'

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The old man peered into the bottle, frowned, and emptied the few remainders into his mouth. He tossed the bottle into the bag on the ground next to him, and eyed the cap lying dismally in front of him, noting the lack of increase of coins. He leaned forward, groaning as his back cracked, and emptied the contents of the cap into his bag as well. He shouldered the filthy thing, placed the cap on his head, and started shuffling down the street, muttering to himself. Had anyone been listening to this monologue, it could have revealed much that many people would have to killed to know and stop others from knowing.

'Goddamned costumes. Fucking thing smells and slumping over hurts like hell. Limits mobility too. Where the hell is he? He's been coming out of that door every day for a week. Where's that bottle…'

Lyrinian groped in the bag before pulling out a different bottle. He uncorked it and peered inside, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the alcohol within. He sat down, put the cap out in front of him as before, and began to consume his poison. Despite his harsh words earlier, he was inordinately happy. Fools, never thinking of a manual disguise anymore. Shinobi nowadays were all concentrating on _henge _techniques, rather than just trying to put on a costume, and as such, defenses had evolved to detect them, rather then penetrate a potential imposter's Halloween suit. As long as Lyrinian remembered to hide his chakra, no one could detect him without removing the fatsuit doubling his body mass, taking off the latex that changed the shape of his chin and face, and pulling off the fake beard and eyebrows. It was all too easy. He took another swig. After draining the second bottle, he glanced at the setting sun. With another groan, he lifted the empty cap and started to move towards the area where he'd been stashing his stuff.

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Kira finished the last figure in the scroll before yawning and stretching. She had to admit, though she was still angry as a woman scorned, Jonaza had really managed to open the floodgates with this guy. She'd spent the past week draining him of information, and then a few days summarizing and copying in triplicate all the information gained. One was for the archives, one for the Mizukage, and one for Jonaza, as per normal. She'd found who had given him the contract from the Konoha council, she'd found out that they were keeping his family, and that the rest of his tribe would be obliterated if he told anything. She'd also found how he managed to seal explosives inside of himself without killing himself. His abilities reminded her of someone, she just couldn't remember who. Walking to the aviary, she bumped into Naruto.

'Hiya,' Kira waved. Seeing the non-responding recipient of her greeting engrossed in a book, she shook her head.

'Idiot, it's polite to respond when someone greets you.' This time, Kira's sentence was accompanied by a whack to the shoulder, knocking Naruto over. He stood up, confused, and rubbed his arm sheepishly.

'What, did you say something?' Kira glared, then got a mischievous smile on her face.

'What're you reading that's so engaging?' She reached down and picked up the book.'

'_The Ways of Carpentry_. Sounds like your forte.' She made a seal, and with a puff of smoke, the book changed from the dull brown with a chair on the cover to a plain black, obviously well-used.

'A diary? Really?' She evaded Naruto's grabs for the book and began to read the first page out loud.

'_Entry One. They have decided to make me Mizukage. I don't really know why. I was happier when I was able to fight. Now I sit behind a desk and watch these weaker fools try to win our battles._

_'Entry Two. These so called 'graduates' are far too empathetically feeble. I have an idea…_

_Entry Three. I have implemented the plan. Many were horrified, but I do not doubt they would be more horrified if they were killed because we had a weak military._

_Signed, Yagura, Yondaime Mizukage.__'_

Kira looked up at Naruto, who was blushing. 'I'd never have pegged you for the type who'd read a bloodthirsty monster's journal. Planning on slaughtering a clan?' Though she meant it in jest, she saw Naruto flinch. 'What? I didn't mean it.'

'The Mizukage said that he was one of the only jinchuriki to ever fully master the power of his beast. I thought that his journal may give me some clues on how to do it.' He rubbed the back of his head. 'It's kind of a long shot, but hey, you never know.' Kira shook her head.

'Another power-crazed alpha male. Jeez, I can't help but think one day all the testosterone is going to kill everyone but the women in this world.'

'It's not for the additional power… I've been having trouble concentrating, and when using any chakra save the fox's, I tend to have problems doing jutsus… particularly the Rasengan. My control, never very good to start out with, has degraded to the point of being non-existent. If anything, I'd say it's becoming obsessive over what I do, almost requiring me to use its chakra, interfering with me if I try to use my own. I want to find out if there's a way to stop it, and, if possible, turn the tide.' His blush, at first prominent and glowing, had turned to a dull discoloration in his cheeks, much like the shy people who never stop.

Kira looked up at him. 'Have you asked Jonaza? He is the foremost expert on demons and their ways, as far as we know.' Naruto nodded.

'I have, and that's kind of what worries me. He told me that all demons have unique personalities, and that a spirit as old as the fox would undoubtedly want some taste of freedom after twenty years of being locked up, but all in all, he couldn't explain how to stop it, or how to at least reduce it. He did point me to the Mizukage, who produced the journal. Still, as far in as I am, there's no mention of how he did it.'

'Well, if you want any help developing manual chakra control, then pay me a visit, okay? Oh, and if you see Jonaza, give him this, will you?' She tossed the scroll to Naruto, who nodded. 'Now I just have to get these into two very separate and par away parts of the village… why can't the archives just be in the residence? Or the library?'

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Lyrinian leapt across the minute gap between the buildings, almost as a side thought. It was his third night out on the rooftops, and after six hours of shuffling around in a fatsuit and a latex mask, it felt good to stretch his legs. He had problems with the mask, but if anyone saw him, he couldn't afford to be recognized. He also had a Konoha forehead protector, just for that added bit of help. His guise wouldn't stand up to more than a minute's scrutiny, so he was planning on not being seen in the first place, though with all the guards, he had some difficulty doing that. Concealing his chakra took a lot of his concentration, meaning he couldn't focus as hard on the physical aspect of espionage, which meant there has a higher chance of being seen than he'd like.

'_This is a job for a snake, not me. Hell, not even a Snake could slither in here undetected. But it does give me an idea…'_ 'Fuuton: Kuchiyose no Jutsu!' The whispered command came out, unheard and unseen. Once the smoke had settled, a small hawk sat on the rooftop in front of Lyrinian.

'Amura, can you let me scout out the area with you?? I have your brothers watching the other two, the weaker ones, but this one would be smarter than that, so I have to watch him myself. Can you help me find where the sentries are and what they're doing?' The bird dipped its head once and lifted off into the sky. Lyrinian leaned against a wall and made a hand seal.

'Greater Chameleon Technique.'_**(1*)**_ Anything someone may have seen of a lean man dressed in full black was now nothing but a shimmer in the air, undetectable unless you bumped into it.

'Summoning Technique: Two Minds as One.'_**(2*)**_ With a quick, nauseating spin through the air, Lyrinian's mind invaded that of the bird's, allowing him control. Keeping one eye on his unconscious body, he soared over the town, pinpointing and mentally marking the locations of all the sentries he could see. He had no eyes for the scenery, which, in his opinion, while not as beautiful as the sea, was still amazing, only concentrating on what really mattered at this point: potential traps and dangers. After circling the five square miles surrounding his position, Lyrinian broke both spells, dismissing the bird and sending his mind rocketing back to his body. He slowly removed his back from the wall and crept forward, small gaps of cloth appearing through the cloud of camouflaged human. He kept his sword in its sheath on his hip, instead drawing a kunai and holding it in a defensive position in front of him, its blade making a small indent on the side of his forearm. Crouching, he snuck forward, evading the positions of every stationary guard, ceasing movement whenever the moving patrols wandered around. Minute by minute, hour by hour, he slowly made his way to the Hokage Tower. Once arrived, he dismissed the chameleon technique. He couldn't divide his concentration as he had to when he both hid his chakra and pulled off three draining and difficult techniques at once. Lyrinian leapt forward, his palms glowing with chakra as he latched himself onto the wall, cursing himself for not realizing he'd stand out like a leper in his black costume on the whitewashed building. All he could do was stay in the shadow cast by the moon and hope no one was looking. When he reached the summit of the tall building, he vaulted over the roof and caught the overhanging shingles on the opposite side, swinging around so as to face the window, where a meeting was taking place. He let go of the shingles and caught his toes on the window ledge. He pulled out a pair of earphones and a small nodule, and applied it to the window, putting in the earphones. All that was being said within became hazy, but still hearable.

'… unacceptable… letting the … -ound freel… ought to complain. We… never should have allowed… roam free. …try to recapture it.' Lyrinian heard a static-y sigh from the microphone.

'We… try to regain him… Kirigakure. They… powerful, and he will go not quietly. To take… require a force larger and stronger… afford to amass. I would like… back… hard, nigh impossible. The alliance… shattered, and Suna… become wary, distrustful. …afford trying to gain him. The Nine-tails… sealed safe. No… wasting shinobi to… keep us secure.'

'Well, now, having fun?' Lyrinian whirled, his kunai out in front of him as he did so, quickly finding a spot in front of his face, and between himself and the ANBU hanging from the roof. Lyrinian cursed himself mentally for letting his guard down, allowing the ANBU to sneak up on him and startle him. No matter what he heard, he shouldn't have allowed himself to be distracted. The guard's eyes slid up to Lyrinian's hitae-ate.

'Now, then, we wouldn't be wanting someone to be fooled by that, would we? Why don't you take it off and tell me where you're really from?' Lyrinian reaction was to rip the phony piece off and toss it to the ground, a good hundred yards below. He was still safe behind the mask, but the guard would have his eyes and hair. He'd have to cut it or kill the guard. Killing the guard was infinitely more likely. He let go of the window ledge and fell to a balcony a hundred feet below. He was immediately followed by the original ANBU and several of his compatriots, all with drawn katanas. Seeing this, Lyrinian straightened from his knife-fighting pose, becoming straight and tall, showing off all six foot three of his height, and drew the blade strapped to his back. He held it horizontally , one hand under on blade, the other under the hilt, and bowed low.

And then he struck.

The first ANBU had no chance. The twin blades slashed quickly, cutting his throat as if it were no more than air. They whirled around, finding another target, this time hitting the ANBU in the forehead, instantly lobotomizing him. The man fell off the blade and onto the ground with a sickening sound, and then the other ANBU got over their surprise and attacked themselves. The captain, the one who had found Lyrinian, got close, managing to get his blade within a foot of Lyrinian's arm, before the Swordsmen leapt to avoid a different strike, and kicked the blade away, and, landing, swept a foot underneath the soldier beneath, sending him tumbling to the ground. Lyrinian quickly hefted the man and threw him over the balcony's railing.

All of this had happened in less than a minute. Lyrinian quickly turned, finding the captain and his two other soldiers scrabbling for to regain their footing. Lyrinian made a hand seal around the hilt of his sword.

'Lightning Style: Diverging Paths of Heaven.'_**(3*)**_ Three blue bolts of electricity shot from the air between the tip of the three blades, striking the three men, sending each one back onto the ground and twitching. Lyrinian brought both of his hands to the blades of his sword, and, hands glowing with chakra, split them into two separate blades, with half a handguard for each. He quickly went to each of the spasming men, quickly slicing the throat of each one. Once the last one had been sent silently to his maker, Lyrinian wiped the blades on his clothes, and put the swords back into one, flowing as if a liquid into a mold. He sheathed the blades into the scabbard on his back, bowed once more to the dead men, and, taking a leaping position on the balcony, when suddenly the lights from the boor leading to the balcony flew on, and the door burst open. Three angry women exited the door, accompanied by Danzo, the Council, and several ANBU guards.

One of the women spoke.

'Scum, you have five seconds to tell me who you are and what you're doing here before I punch you out of the village.' She noticed the five dead ANBU units and added, in a snarling growl, 'And maybe I'll let you live as a cripple for the rest of your days.'

Lyrinian was torn and angry. A simple reconnaissance mission had turned from that to a bloodbath to a fiasco. And yet, here was his target. Based on the conversation he held in his pouch, he had no doubt that Jonaza would begrudge him eliminating the council, but he knew that, even if he did succeed, the odds of survival were dismal. His mind raced through many scenarios before arriving on one he believed would suit his purposes. He felt in his breast pouch for a special knife.

'I am sorry, milady, but that is the one thing I may not do.' He was careful to keep his apparent chakra signature much lower than normal, and his voice much softer and higher than his regular. 'However, my masters have a gift for you.' He tossed the knife, now glowing white, onto the ground, sticking its point into the soft stone, and leapt from the balcony, gracefully landing on the broken body of the ANBU he'd tossed off the balcony. He pumped as much chakra as he dared into his feet, and sprinted away from the tower, and the flames spreading from the balcony where he'd killed six men.

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**AN: These last few chapters have mainly been to help to flesh out the OCs, since, looking back, character development has really been non-existent for everyone save Jonaza. This chapter's focus, obviously, was Lyrinian, and the next one will probably be Kira. I also threw in a little allusion for you metals with solid gears out there. Also: please, give me some constructive criticism on the fight scene. Tell me how to improve it, because I KNOW it wasn't perfect. As always, hug a tree, stay away from an angry badgers, and review!**

Techniques:

1*- Greater Chameleon Technique: One of Lyrinian's original techniques, it shrouds the user in chakra, which takes on the appearance of the environment. It's the fifth of six levels, going from Weak, Common, Average, Strong, Great, and Grand. Its largest flaw is that, when moving, the shroud doesn't move quite as quickly as the user, allowing little holes to pop through, allowing the observant person to notice floating patches of cloth or skin, which would certainly alert them, and it requires an inordinate amount of chakra control. Due to this, it's either best as an evasion technique, or in a low-light environment with dark clothing. Gamers, basically imagine the Sniper class from Killzone 2. Rated low A-class.

2*-Summoning Technique: Two Minds as One: It is similar to the Yamanaka clan's technique, allowing someone to posses something else and use its body to their own ends. However, it can only be used upon a willing summon, as the caster can be thrown out by someone with a strong enough will. It is also superior to the Yamanaka clan's, however, in that, when cast under the above conditions, it has a 100% success rate. However, it leaves the body of the user completely unprotected, and, due to this, is classified as a kinjutsu. Rated high B-class.

3*- Lighting Style: Diverging Paths of Heaven: It's basically a normal bolt of lightning, though colored differently depending on the user, and is most often sent through a conductor of some sort- in this use, Lyrinian's sword, which, already imbued with quite a bit of an electrical punch, can greatly increase the power of the technique. If charged enough, it can kill, though it's normally used more to incapacitate an enemy than kill them. Another of Lyrinian's original techniques. Rated A class.


	8. Chapter 8: Slinker and Stinker

**AN: This is just a little thing I wanted to say before the post-note: if anyone has a good English-Romaji translator, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone's interested, please PM me.**

Chapter 8: Slinker and Stinker

'Our client is displeased. He was nearly killed, and many of his guards were. Your assassin talked.' The portly man would have responded, if it weren't for the hand of iron slowly crushing his windpipe.

'I told you to make sure he was dead, don't try to deny that. Hopefully your successor will do a better job of following orders.' The man gargled, his hands futilely attempting to lessen the stranglehold.

'I will tell your family you died well… though you won't.' With those final words, the grip slammed shut, crushing the larynx and starting the process of a painful death. The soon-to-be-corpse of the soon-to-be-former leader of the Village Hidden in Thorns fell to the ground. The killer's red eyes gleamed.

'But in the meantime… it has been two years since I made a kill worthy of the name. And my brother still walks free, his bodyguards undiminished. I believe…' He walked across the room to a small stand, holding weapons of every kind. After a minute of browsing, he selected his: two red kodachi.

'… I believe it's time I talked with my brother.'

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'God, that smells.' Lyrinian wiped the blade for a seventeenth time, this time with a bleach-soaked rag. He'd been working it for a week, polishing and sharpening it, and the blood and ashes had yet to be removed. He made a mental note: clean the blood before using a lightning technique that'd be channeled through the blade. Yeah, he'd wiped it on one of the ANBU's clothing, but there was still the blood that was burnt onto the blades. It wasn't fun to clean. He's tried bleach, oil, soap, and even a light acid, and none had made much of a mark. The bleach had made it LOOK cleaner, but it was still the same gory blade. And it smelled as attractive as a pile of week-old pig intestine. Jonaza had a kind of powder that cleaned well when mixed with water… Maybe he'd request some when he sent the report.

He labored for another hour before retiring and leaving the thing. He slid it into the fleece-lined scabbard next to him and got off the stump. The forest had provided a fun retreat, offering him shelter, sustenance, and a good hiding spot from any ANBU that may still be searching for him. He'd see if he could sneak into the village later to restart reconnaissance. Meanwhile…

'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!' A large eagle appeared on the ground and unfurled its wings, looking impatient. Its beak opened.

'I am needed?' Lyrinian, engrossed by a pen and a scroll, didn't reply for some minutes, only deigning to respond when the bird of prey bit him on the foot.

'Ow! Damned bird… exercise some patience, will you?'

'You dare have the audacity to tell me, one of the nobles of my kind, to show patience? You, of all beings in the worlds?' The banter continued like this for some time, playfully insulting each other in the affectionate way close friends often do. Kira had made the mistake of calling them an 'old married couple' once, and had ended up swarmed by the bird. All the while, Lyrinian's hand and pen danced across the scroll, writing in an elegant script that would have been pure nonsense to any save a Swordsman of the Mist. When his dance finally ceased, he quickly rolled up the scroll and tied it to the bird's leg, still chattering while it was lifted to allow Lyrinian better access to the loop that hung there for that explicit purpose. Having finished his writing, Lyrinian leaned back and placed his head against the tree.

'Away with ye, damned bird, and may it be a blessed time before I lay eyes on your mangy feathers again.' He directed a feeble kick at the bird, which squawked in mock outrage before taking off. He turned his middle finger towards the sky in the direction of the bird before closing his eyes. It wouldn't hurt to take a slight rest…

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'Tell me where Jonaza Mesike currently is.' The red blade made a small cut in the man's throat, reminding him of the peril he was in. He swallowed, feeling his Adam's apple rub against the blade.

'I will tell you nothing.' The shinobi frorm the Mist was, though foolish, loyal and brave to a fault, much like many others from his village.

'Really.' A second blade implanted itself in the victim's knee, going from the newly created split in his kneecap to come out of his thigh. The man screamed and writhed, the newly-placed gag blocking most of the noise, though his didn't fall from his kneeling position.

'All you do is cause more suffering. You will die in the end, in the manner of my choosing. And if you fail to tell me what I want to know before that end than all you will do is cause suffering and death for one of your colleagues. Would it not be easier to tell me, and die quickly?' Syrnon removed the gag.

'All.. I wi… will tell you… is…' The man caught his breath, and spat in Syrnon's face, who nonchalantly wiped it, sighing.  
'Then all I will tell you is that death is not easy for my antagonists.' He drew one of the short swords and, kicking the man in the jaw to knock him over, implanted it in the right lung of the man before removing it.

'Now you will either asphyxiate or bleed to death, depending on which veins or arteries I severed. And breathing will hurt like nothing has ever hurt before.' With those comforting words, he left the slowly dying shinobi on the ground, and turned to his teammate.

'I hope you are wiser. Tell me where the man known as Jonaza

Mesike is, or your death will be worse.' The second shinobi, also kneeling and bound, looked frantically at the dead body of his compatriot, then all around, and then finally at Syrnon's chest.

'I-I will be reviled as all that is evil in the world. I cannot tell you. Please, kill me quickly.' Syrnon chuckled, a deep chuckle, one used by a cat who knows the rat is his.

'But it will not be quick. Your death will be slow… So slow and painful that forever you will be remembered as a sufferer. But… tell me, and you shall die a quick death. I may even grant you an honorable one, allow you to fight. But otherwise…' He drew the sword to his left with a menacing hiss… 'Otherwise you will experience all the torment the world has seen. Where is Jonaza Mesike?' The ninja, tears in his eyes, responded.

'I do not know.' Syrnon raised an eyebrow.

'Isn't that a pity.' He drew his arm back, blade pointed to the shinobi's groin.

'WAIT!' The blade came to a halt, mere nanometers from the soft flesh and hard bone. Syrnon looked curiously at the grief-stricken man.

'I… I don't know where he is. Bu-but, there is always a member of the Six Swordsmen in Konohagakure. If… if you could find them, they would know. They would definitely know. They always know where the others are. Please…' Syrnon grinned, then grin of a hunter who found the rarest of game caught in his net.

'The Village Hidden by Leaves? It would be adventurous… in fact, I doubt I've had such a time since I killed the Kazekage. Yes… and by all accounts, the Swordsmen are rivaled by nearly no one. It would be the first true challenge I have had in a decade… I believe this will do quite nicely.' He pivoted at once and made as if to go away, interrupted by a shout. He turned to see the Mist ninja calling.

'Are… aren't you going to let me go?' Syrnon tapped his chin.

'That is right, I need to devise a death befitting a traitor… Something painful.' He began to rummage through the dead shinobi's bag, ignoring the spluttering captive.

'What? You.. you said you'd kill me honorably!'

'I lied. Ooh, some wire. This will work nicely. Now, then, hold still…'

The man's screams were heard for miles around.

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Lyrinian walked up to the gates, a bold arrogance across his face, as befitting a noble and the equivalent of a noble again. He knew what to do, and he was a good enough actor to pull it off. If he was stopped-which he highly doubted- he'd play the 'new ambassador from Kirigakure' card, one which had yet to be defeated. Political gout almost always triumphed over orders, and besides, he technically was the new ambassador from Kirigakure.

He'd just spent a week or two scouting out the area first, then another week allowing them to calm down. That was all. Just… just a strange journey. Yep. Bears. Nasty this time of year.

'State your name and business.' Lyrinian turned quickly. He didn't like it. Twice in three weeks he'd been snuck upon. Looking at the ANBU, however, a sneer formed on his face.

'I am Lyrinian, one of the Swordsmen of the Mist. It has come to our attention that our post in Konoha has been unoccupied for some time. I assume you don't think accosting an ambassador might be a bit unpleasant?'

The ANBU was silent for a minute, and then muttered something about 'didn't know.' Lyrinian pointed to the hitae-ate on his forearm.

'Not enough information for you? Need a notarized document explaining my presence?' At this, the ANBU straightened.

'No, but I will need to escort you to the Hokage and make sure that you're who you claim to be.' Lyrinian raised his hands.

'Hey, no problem with me. It's your career.'

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'I am deeply sorry about this, Ambassador.' Lyrinian grinned.

'Please, think nothing of it. He was only doing his job. Hell, was it me in his position, there'd probably have been a knife to my throat. Don't punish him; I should've sent a message telling you I'd be coming.' Tsunade frowned.

'Still, he shouldn't have been so hostile, and once evidence was produced, he should definitely have backed off, at least a little. There was no reason for his impudence.' Lyrinian waved his hand.

'As I've said, think nothing of it. He was just following orders. If I had been an enemy, he'd need to be more hostile than he was.' Tsunade began to speak again, but he cut her off.

'Please, Lady Hokage, I am tired from the journey. Allow me to retire and rest. Believe me, we will talk tomorrow.' Though not entirely satisfied, and beginning to grow angry, Tsunade reluctantly nodded, conceding the point to Lyrinian, who smiled.

'Excellent. What say you to a meeting tomorrow afternoon?' This time, however, it was Tsunade's turn to turn him down.

'No, I already have a meeting then. Somehow, someone suck into the village and killed five ANBU forces, and nearly killed myself, one of the Council members, and my apprentice and assistant.' Lyrinian raised a single eyebrow, while inside, he was glowing with pride at his accomplishments.

'I… I see. Please, give my condolences to the families of the murdered. I doubt a barbarian's good wishes would mean much to them, but it may console them some.' Tsunade nodded, hear eyes beginning to tear a little.

'Well, if our matter is concluded, then, as I said, I am tired and must rest. I will see you some time tomorrow to set up a meeting time.' Lyrinian rose from his seat and bowed: a more casual, mocking bow, as opposed to his stiff, formal ones used during the midst of a battle. Tsunade nodded, and Lyrinian disappeared in a puff of smoke.

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'Well, well. There it is.'

Syrnon gazed from the hillock, looking upon the sprawling mass of the Village Hidden in Leaves.

'And to think… I get to battle one of the Swordsmen in there… imagine… I do hope it isn't my brother… I am in the mood for more than one battle. Well, here I go…'

And with those final words, Syrnon leaped for the walls.

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Lyrinian yawned, a large, cat yawn, showing all the teeth in his mouth, and feeling thoroughly refreshed at the end. Meetings were so… _**boring.**_ At least he could stretch his legs, and once he'd visited the ambassador's residence, maybe he could train or pick a fight with someone… anything to stretch his legs and various other limbs and appendages.

And then he heard a scream.

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'Where is the Swordsmen from the Mist?' Syrnon once again prodded the girl he held in his right hand with the blade of the unsheathed kodachi.

'Where is he, hmm? Know where I can find him?' The girl's hands, scrabbling pointlessly on the forearm of her assailant, suddenly stopped, falling to her sides, her head hanging. Syrnon sighed.

'Another one useless.' He turned to the slowly gathering crowd that had begun to form a ring around him.

'Anyone of you happen to know where the Swordsmen of the Mist is? I need to have a talk with him. Come on, guys, he's gotta be kinda obvious.' A sudden disturbance within the crowd, a rippling effect among the spectators, caused him to grin.

'So you've heard of him, hmm? Or her. I don't really care about their sex, I just need something they know. Come on, let's figure out where he is.' A lone figure, dressed in a bright green bodysuit with a flak jacket of a slightly darker green elbowed his way through the crowd.

'We would not betray an ally as easily as you may think. We will not tell you.' Syrnon's eyes lit up, and a hungry look came about his face as he vanished.

Lee was lifted off his feet from behind, the hand holding him by the scruff of the neck, with a blade at the small of his back.

'Now, now. I don't want a fight. Well, not with you… I doubt you'd feed me for a minute or so before biting it, and what's the fun of that? No, it's the Swordsman I want.'

'And it's me you'll get.' Lyrinian appeared in the circle, his Souba sword out and positioned within Lyrinian's hand in the standard Shien position. Syrnon dropped Lee ungraciously, then kicked him out of the way.

'About time you showed up. I was beginning to get bored.'

'Don't be.' The kunai flew from in the crowd, striking Syrnon in the dead center of his back. He stiffened, then slouched. The lightning clone in the center dissipated while the real Lyrinian leapt from the center of the mob and took the bunshin's place. He took one look at the standing body, and turned away.

And then stiffened at the sound of the laugh.

'Hehehe… hehehehehehehehehe. You're good… That kunai struck right between the vertebrae. Were I any other person… I would have died.' He reached back and pulled the knife from his back, tossing it onto the ground before straightening.

'It won't do to just be "good" in a battle against me however. For me… you need to be PERFECT.' He vanished.

Lyrinian swung around, Souba coming around just in time to catch the blades of the two kodachi four inches from Lyrinian's face. Syrnon chuckled.

'Better. Now, then, where is Jonaza Mesike?' Lyrinian's answer came as his own grin.

'Lightning Style: Hidden Charge Technique!' Several hundred thousand volts drove through the twin blades of Souba, Lyrinian's own sword, before diverging down the red metal of Syrnon's, who dropped them.

'Too slow.' Lyrinian, watching the two blades shiver on the ground, lifted his head just in time to meet Syrnon's fist, which sent him crashing through the wall nearby. Syrnon bent over and picked up the still-charged kodachi, causing his hair to straighten.

'Tingly.' He stepped over the rubble of the wall into the park. The crowd, hoping to see the battle, huddled around the break. Lee, having recovered, was barking into a microphone.

'…Yes, a very powerful shinobi. He was fast… much faster than me. The ambassador from the Mist is engaging him.' He listened for a brief period of time. 'No, he kept asking for the Swordsman from the Mist. I assume this is what he wanted.' He stopped again. 'All right, I'll gather all nearby Jonin and engage the enemy. Lee out.' He motioned to Neji, standing nearby, who nodded and followed him into the crack.

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Syrnon stepped lightly through the underbrush, making less noise than the wind.

'Playing the hiding game, are we? All right… I can do that.' The short outburst was all that Neji and Lee needed.

Syrnon whirled in time to catch Lee's flying kick, spinning around and throwing him into Neji, who flew backwards into a tree.

'I am getting tired of these little distractions. Next time, I go for the kill.' He made a rapid set of seals.

'Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!' He aimed the string of fire towards the trees, surrounding the clearing in a ring of fire, leaving of Neji and Lee's tree intact before leaping through the flames after his real target.

Lyrinian stood in the middle of a clearing, his blades out and ready. Syrnon chuckled as he leaped from the shrubbery.

'Confident, are we? Dare I say… arrogant?' The words, barely audible over the sound of the clashing and flashing blades, seemed to enrage Lyrinian. He planted his blades against those of Syrnon's, and then, using the force, vaulted over his opponent, forcing Syrnon's guard down at the same time. Once on the other side, Lyrinian quickly pirouetted and slashed and Syrnon's back, to find his foe already leaping forward and turning. Souba danced upwards, seeking a sheath within warm blood and soft flesh, but was denied by the twin teeth of Syrnon's kodachis (_**AN: If anyone knows the correct plural form of this word, please, share it.**_). Syrnon landed and, spinning like a devil's yoyo, leapt for Lyrinian who leapt back, trusting his twin blades into the red circle before him, catching one between the steel jaws of Souba. Having caught his prey, Lyrinian hurled the blade away into the forests. His grey eyes met Syrnon's gleaming red.

'That wasn't very nice.' Lyrinian leaped at him, pushing himself against a tree when the momentum from his missed attack carried him there. Looking around, he found no sign of his antagonist.

'They never look up.' Lyrinian was slammed against the hard ground from the combined forces of gravity and over two hundred pounds of muscle and metal. Lyrinian struggled against the foot for a while before giving up. Syrnon looked down at him, frowning.

'That wasn't much of a fight… Oh well. I must admit, a fight wasn't what I came here looking for… though I came here anticipating one. So tell me, when is Jonaza Mesike?' Lyrinian spat in his face. Syrnon sighed. 'I am getting tired of this spitting business.' He lifted his foot over Lyrinian's face. 'One last time, then violence. Where is my brother?'

'Where he normally is, in Kirigakure.' Syrnon frowned.

'No, really? Where will he be unprotected? Most vulnerable?' Lyrinian laughed.

'He's never vulnerable.. In Kirigakure, he has the Mizukage, at least two Swordsmen, and the entire village. Here, in Konohagakure, he has the Hokage, to an extent, and he has the Swordsman posted here. In the wilderness, he's got the most dangerous tool of all: himself, unfettered to the thought of innocent human life. He can destroy any opponent you throw at him without any help whatsoever.' Syrnon laughed aloud to this notion.

'Well, I will have to get him to satisfy both of those conditions then: no help, and the thought of innocent human lives crushed… How do I fulfil those prerequisites.'

'You won't.' Syrnon looked down in time to see Souba, having been worked free from Lyrinian, rushing towards his face. He quickly leaped backwards off Lyrinian, he flipped over his back into a standing position. Syrnon frowned.

'Dammit. I was all geared up for a fight earlier, and now, when I need to think, you decide to indulge those whims. Oh well…' He leapt at Lyrinian, his two blades ready to slash from two different angles. Lyrinian leapt over the first and managed to deflect the second from a dangerous wound to a glancing one off the shoulder. Still deep, but not enough to cause any major harm.

If treated quickly. Time was a luxury which Lyrinian had now in a limited capacity. The wound, while clean, so no chance of infection, was bleeding pretty badly. Lyrinian sniffed the cut and before Syrnon wound up for a another attack, leaped into a tree and doused his chakra signature, hoping to be able to hide long enough to treat it. Glancing at the blood trail he left, he new that was a slight hope. Pulling off the cap on the bottom of Souba's hilt, he appied a small amount of the ointment inside to the entire wound, which helped to stem the bleeding somewhat. He then ripped off the bottom of his sleeve, tying it around his armpit to bandage it somewhat. Any professional doctor would have blanched at the hasty, shoddy medical job, but for doing it in less than twenty seconds, it was an excellent job.

Until Syrnon crashed through the branches behind Lyrinian, plunging both blades into his chest. One slid between the ribs and stopped somewhere in the small intestine, and the other started in one end of his already wounded shoulder and came out the other, the dark, classic red (classic, IE normal red crayon/marker/colored pencil) of the blades now tainted with the red of blood. Lyrinian stiffened and slowly fell off the blades onto the ground. Syrnon wiped the blades on the leaves of the trees, frowning at the undesired result, when he was suddenly hit by a blow himself, much more powerful than any he had delivered, sending him flying over a kilometer, straight into the bar of a stand selling tsukemen. Syrnon chuckled to himself quietly, still lying amongst the rubble of the bar. Grabbing the blade next to him, seeing the other nothing but a hilt and a few pieces of shattered red metal. He picked up the hilt and made a seal with one hand, muttering a word. The rest of the pieces flew back together, making it whole again. He then pressed the two smaller blades together, murmuring another word. The two combined, forging a katana with a slightly longer, red blade. He stoop up and slowly walked out of the ruins.

Standing in front of him, surrounded by a ring of people whispering and muttering to themselves, was Lyrinian. But it wasn't the Lyrinian he had been fighting three minutes ago. The normally hard, grey eyes were a prefect white, there was a faint yellow glow emanating from his body, small sparks and jolts of electricity were running up and down his body, and he wasn't quite still. It was as if he was taking a half a step to the right, and then back to the left, thousands of times in the blink of an eye. Syrnon lowered his eyes from the face, scanning the body for anything else interesting. Only one thing of prevalent note occurred:

The wounds previously afflicted had no presence. Indeed, it looked as if he had showered and bathed, rather than endured a fight. Souba, normally dancing with a small electric current, was sparkling, with a strong, white light emanating from it. Syrnon raised an eyebrow.

'Very nice. Does it do anything special, or is it just for looks.' Lyrinian gazed at him impassably for a matter of seconds before responding.

'You are the second person to have forced me to transform in a serious battle. I salute you.' The voice was not mocking; if anything, it was curious and deadly, deadly solemn. 'But that will be all. I will show you why I am called Lyrinian of the Single Defeat.'

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**AN: Okay, that took me a while, and I really am kind of tired. But first, some explanation.**

**Well, not so much explanation as prediction and repetition. First off: the translator. That's kind of obvious, the next time I update for the story it'll be the conclusion of this fight scene, and you best believe techniques'll be flying around like mad jackalopes. So anyone with a good English:Japanese-written-in-english-letters-instead-of-katas translator, please PM me or just tack the link onto the end of that lengthy review I know you're getting ready to write, all chock-ful of constructive criticism of that fight scene. *wink wink nudge nudge***

**Secondly, on the matter of a beta. I needs one. I needs one bad. Anyone willing to volunteer, please PM me a 500 word essay as to why you think you'd be the best. Kthxbai.**

**I's just kidding, I'm not really that cruel. But please, just send me a PM telling me why, and if I'm interested, I'll reply. If not, I'll try to reply anyways so you don't get too terribly disappointed with my decision. And remember: if you suck at beta'ing, please don't apply. I will reserve the right to fire you at a moment's notice.**

**And thirdly. Those paying attention during this AN will notice that I alluded that the next chapter MAY not be the next installment. Instead, if I don't do it next chapter, as a sort of intermission, then I WILL do it chapter after next. It'll update and flesh out those character bios I attached to the end of some chapter a while ago, as well as retcon a few things. I'll also pitch an idea to you, so keep your eyes and ears out for that.**

**Well, as always, read, review, and keep your eyes out for the geraniums. **


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